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THE BLUSH OF CONSTANTINE AT THE COUNCIL OF NICE by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: TO THAT HIGH COUNCIL GATHERED TO COMPOSE
Last Line: IN THAT KING'S-ASPECT, DASHED WITH HOLY AWE.
Subject(s): CONSTANTINE I (THE GREAT) (D. 337); COUNCIL OF NICAEA (315 A.D.);

To that high Council gathered to compose
The troubled waters of the Church of Christ,
And with her noble words convince her foes,
Came the great monarch, faithful to his tryst;
But lo! on entering, how his visage glows
With sudden reverence, that doth enlist
The sympathies of bishop, courtier, priest;
Who gaze in tender silence on the rose
He brings to their first meeting, and address
Themselves with braver hearts to their grand cause;
And, though in aftertimes his zeal grew less
For the pure creed of those whose eyes he draws,
All is congenial now. They find no flaw
In that king's-aspect, dashed with holy awe.



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